North Gets Back On Track Vs Dayton

DAYTON, Ore.– The Boys in Black found themselves back into the win column following their game against Crescent Valley a few days ago with a excellent 10-2 win over the Boys from Dayton High School.

And though they had some minor hiccups, this game was big with some tough games ahead this week.

“We just got to get our heads in it, it’s pretty important,” said Will Tsukamaki. “I thought we played pretty good against these guys today. We just got to worry about playing our game and not worry about them and just play our game against. Whoever we’re playing, play our game.

For coach Max Price, though some of his athletes didn’t make good plays, he liked how they respond with a better play in the game.

“It’s good, we’ve got guys who, during the game, had plays that weren’t so hot. They were also guys who came back and made some plays as well,” started Price. “Keegan Wafer for example had a ball he didn’t make a great play on and later, (on a) two-strike count hits a pretty hard linedrive to left center field, drives in a run for us.

“It’s nice to have guys who can comeback after they make a play that’s not so great and flush it down and make another play that is good.”

That hit by Wafer’s came in the sixth inning for North.

Early on in the game however, the Vikings were finding themselves in favorable offensive situations early in the game, but it wasn’t until the third inning when they took advantage of what Dayton was giving them.

Danny Alavardo (23) trying to make the tag at home Monday (Picture By Jeremy McDonald)

With runners on board, Will Tsukamaki sent a moon shot to shallow Right Center Field to break a 0-all tie to give a 2-0 lead to Vikings with one out.

With a steal and a Luna Reyes walk, Tsukamaki scored off a balk and moment later, while stealing third, Reyes scored for a 4-0 lead entering the bottom of the third.

“It was big,” said Tsukamaki. “Whenever we can get momentum, we need it. Momentum I think drives this team, the big moments, and we push off of it.”

Tsukamaki went 3-4 in the game for North Salem.

Though the Viks defense allowed walks and hits, they did not break, carrying a shutout into the fourth inning.

The Pirates broke the shutout in the fourth only to have the Vikings regain their four-run lead that they lost moments earlier with a run of themselves.

A four-run sixth inning put the score out reach for Dayton to rally as North took the game to get back on track with Sprague, West Salem and Crescent Valley on the docket for North Salem.

The key for those games is to carry this success into those games as sort of a point of success.

“Take at-bats that were good and just use those as a jumping-off point,” described Price. “Think of the positives that you had and use that to head into the next one and try to start it that point and get better.”